


After the Storm

by penpaninu



Category: Tomb Raider (Video Games), Tomb Raider 2013
Genre: After Yamatai, F/F, holy hell they barely got away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:29:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28483179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penpaninu/pseuds/penpaninu
Summary: Rescued after the events of Tomb Raider 2013, what will happen to Lara and Sam?  Especially before a new adventure.
Relationships: Omegaverse - Relationship, alpha and omega healing
Kudos: 14





	After the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Disclaimer: I do not own Tomb Raider 2013 or any of the characters therein. Just came up with this after playing it for the fourth time this year.
> 
> Author’s notes: Such an original story title! But I wanted to write alpha Lara, and this served up a mental image. Enjoy, tomb raiders.

When Lara saw the large ship bearing down on their smaller vessel, the tightness in her chest almost disappeared. Almost. Her legs ached, her arms were sore, and she was bruised and cut all over to hell and back. She didn’t like the distant look in Sam’s eyes whenever she looked up from her curled-up position. Reyes was handling the smaller jury-rigged boat; Jonah hovered over both of them as if he expected a random Solarii or oni to pop up over the side and drag one of them back.  
And with the past few days they’d had, she didn’t blame him. Lara was glad for his mother-hen hovering; she didn’t have to be so constantly vigilant. But she couldn’t help being tense and alert.

Himiko was dead by her hand and they were leaving Yamatai, but not without having been touched permanently in disturbing ways.

“Hey! We’re down here!” Jonah roared up to the ship, waving his chubby arms. Reyes added her voice to his, but Lara was silent as her gaze moved over Sam. Dressed in that damned white shift, crumpled flowers in her hair, she looked ethereal, as if she’d vanish in a puff of smoke. Lara reached out and placed her hand on Sam’s. Real, she was real, solid and still with them. Please don’t leave….  
“Lara? What?” Sam’s eyes fluttered open and the fear in them gutted Lara. They were safe but the mental damage had been done. She didn’t think she’d ever go to sleep without a pistol near her hand again.  
“There’s a ship. They see us and we’re going to go home,” Lara said smoothly. She pumped out soothing feelings in her chi and she was slightly placated to see Sam respond. She moved closer and nestled her chin on Lara’s thigh.

“Just let me know when we’re on board. So we can sleep….” But Sam’s eyes were already fluttering. As before when she’d carried her to the beach and away from Himiko’s desiccated body, Lara leaned to pick Sam up again. The four of them were helped aboard the lowered lifeboat and a worried officer in blue uniform hovered, eyes serious and voice solemn. His deep voice, American accented, pinged questions at them.  
But Lara couldn’t hear them. Reyes and Jonah were leaning back in their seats as they were lifted up to the ship’s deck. They were done and so was she.

“Just a doctor. Thanks,” Lara murmured in response to an inquiry she did manage to pick up on. If they needed anything….. Needed anything? Lara wanted the past few days gone, erased from existence for her and her friends. They’d lost too many crew members, and too much of themselves in such a short harrowing time. Sam leaned against her, hands tight against her forearm. Lara let the petite girl lean against her. Reyes seemed to note this and gave Lara a wry look. At least they were safe enough that someone else got some humor out of a fragile attraction between her and her college friend.

“I’m okay. No doctor…..” Sam murmured against her shoulder and Lara’s heart broke. She put an arm around Sam and held the shuddering girl. Then the lifeboat was against the lip of the deck and they were helped over by the sailors.  
The sailors noticed Lara’s presentation and backed off after offering blankets when Lara growled. They were too close to Sam and she’d been through enough already.  
Jonah was murmuring beside her. “It’ll be okay,” she managed to hear from him and nodded. The beta was pumping out soothing pheromones and it was working. She followed his lead and led Sam into the ship.

“Right…” she agreed. Then they were all separated for medical examination and Lara felt a stab of panic.

* * * * *

Lara was starting to think the universe was playing a large joke on her. 

First, they’d gone through literal hell and back. Now the nurse overseeing her physical exam was eyeing her all out. The paper gown the doctor pressed on her was short, barely covering her knees. Lara was just glad she was in no amorous mood whatsoever, or a shift would be very noticeable to the idiot girl’s eyes. She could only fist her gown closed in the front and tap a cold bare foot on the tiled floor, waiting for the doctor to finish up with her. Reyes sported a nasty gash on her forearm, and who knows what small injuries Jonah had. He seemed far more resilient to be felled by any malady. But Lara had noticed him limping as he went off to his own examination room. He could have hurt a foot or ankle.

She was far more worried about Sam. Sam….. how was she holding up? Omega or not, Lara’s alpha sensibilities seemed to overcrowd her good judgment and their friendship. Sam had to be alright…..she hadn’t been touched. Right? The Solarii were convinced she would be the vessel for Himiko’s corpse, the soul trapped inside able to move on in a new body. They wouldn’t have touched her, would they?  
“Well, Miss Croft, I’m more concerned about that stomach cut,” The doctor said, making Lara shift back to the present. The annoying nurse pursed her lips at her over the doctor’s shoulder, not even trying to disguise her interest. Lara tried not to growl, fisting her gown shut. 

“All I had was a lighter and arrow tip to cauterize it,” she fumbled to explain. Really, it WAS all she’d had. Considering the feudal landscape they’d been trapped in, she was lucky to have had that at all. It was that or risk bleeding out from her stomach wound.  
The doctor gestured and opened the front of Lara’s paper gown. She groaned as the nurse got a good look at her small breasts. The lines in her toned stomach were gashed over with a bad cauterization attempt. It had done the job, but still…. “I’m going to take a blood sample and make sure you’re not developing a septic reaction. It wouldn’t do to have that now,” he said casually. Lara sighed. She did feel somewhat faint, but she thought it was the after-effects of leaving mortal danger behind at last.

“Sure thing,” she agreed. The nurse made sure to touch her arm all over as she prepared her for the injection necessary. Lara sighed and winced at the sting of the needle, watching the stopper fill up with her blood. The doctor took the needle and carefully injected her fluid into a waiting container, capping and labeling it with her name and date. The needle was disposed of in a hazard bin on the wall, dropped safely out of sight. Lara crossed her arms over her chest.  
“How’s Sam doing?” she blurted out. The doctor glanced over at her as he handed a fresh pair of slacks and shirt over. Her old clothes had been carried off. Possibly thrown out. Lara wasn’t sad to see them go. She accepted the folded clothes as the doctor scratched his neck.  
“Physically, she’s fine. No signs of…..abuse,” he said carefully. “She’s somewhat anemic so she should adhere to the diet I gave her. But mentally, I fear, is another matter.”  
“I suspect Reyes, Jonah and we were all need therapy,” Lara said lightly, but heavy truth lined her words. The doctor nodded.

“I can recommend someone in the UK if you’re heading home. Unfortunately, we don’t have a therapist on board…”  
“That’s okay,” Lara said, but her mind was tumbling in circles. She just wanted to get back near Sam and protect her. She’d done that more than enough by this point, but their friendship had frayed past almost to the end. She needed to see she was alright.  
The doctor wasn’t convinced. “Be close to her. Let her know she can relax and…heal.”  
Lara nodded. “I was going to.”  
“Well, I’m sure you’ve had more than enough for now. Let us know if you need anything else later.”

Lara waited for the nurse to follow the doctor. She groaned as she turned to give her an obnoxious wink. She didn’t start getting dressed until the door was closed and she could lock it. 

• * * * * *

• 

Dinner was a better affair, though the four Endurance shipmates paired off to their own small table in the ship mess, looking more like a group of misfits than anything else. 

Everyone was showered and dressed in spare clothing supplied by the crew. Jonah’s shin was bandaged and so was Reyes’s forearm. Sam only had a few small band-aids on some fairly noticeable bruises. Her hair was combed, but slightly rumpled since she kept propping her head on one hand and running her fingers through it. Lara recognized it as a nervous tell she’d noted Sam doing during finals weeks in college.  
“Bread?” Jonah asked, nudging her arm. Lara took the plate and took a slice. It was standard white, sliced thin. The meat was old and slopped with army gravy, and the potatoes were crunchy and mealy. But it was hot and prepared correctly, so Lara found it incredibly delicious. Almost as delicious as the meals Chef made home at Croft Manor….  
“Thanks…. Sam?” Lara tried to smile when Sam focused her dark eyes on her. “Bread?”

“Wonder Bread, my favorite,” she tried to joke, and Reyes snorted. She abducted the saltshaker and sprinkled a liberal amount over her potatoes. Jonah sighed.  
“I know you ladies probably don’t want a male roomie, but I really am not looking forward to bunking by myself after…all that,” Jonah admitted sheepishly. He scrubbed an area of his broad jaw and Lara noted he needed a good shave.  
Reyes gave an exasperated sigh but the look she shot the cook was full of understanding. “You can room up with me. But you’re getting the floor.”  
“Fair enough,” Jonah smiled with relief. Lara was just glad her crewmates did not want to be alone. They needed to ride out this first night together….somewhat.  
“And Lara’s with me. Right, Lara?” Sam asked, her eyes shining. Lara nodded, to assuage her fear. She felt pure relief with Sam almost melted into her chair. She tugged the ends of her hair and let it go, sitting up straight.

“We need to eat. Come on, everyone,” Lara urged. Sam forked up some meat and sniffed it, then hungrily wolfed it down. Everyone dug in with the same gusto as the surrounding sailors, even her. It was miles ahead of the old mre’s they’d found in dugouts left over from WW2 on the island. The three fish Jonah had managed to get when they were on the beach was the best they’d had during their time trapped. Lara remembered that Dr. Whitman had gotten half a fish to himself, the greedy bastard. Whitman….  
Lara blinked when Sam put her hand on her thigh under the table. She was petting her but also trying to soothe her riotous chi. Lara blinked and gave a soft smile to her friend. Sam needed her whole, but, oh, she was so tired too. 

Maybe now they get some uninterrupted sleep. No winks grabbed tucked away in a compound out of sight of roaming men, no exhaustion tugging her as she swam the edges of the beach. Real unadulterated sleep. Where she could take her shoes off and flex her toes in clean sheets. The simple thought made Lara’s eyes water.

They were gonna be okay. Right?

* * * *

“Lara, stay with me. Please.”

“Sam, I can’t, I….”  
“We shared a cabin before the island, we can do so again. Don’t make me beg,” Sam’s voice faltered. Lara looked at the forlorn begging expression on her face and relented. She had controlled herself when they were friends, when they’d shared a cabin before, and could do so again. When Lara made to climb the ladder to the top bunk, Sam’s hand burned on her elbow.  
“No…in here. With me.”  
Lara blinked as she was steered toward the lower bunk. The sheets and blankets were pulled back and Sam had placed two pillows there invitingly. She felt cold sweat form at her temples.  
“Uhm…..”

“Get in, Croft, or I’ll kick your ass,” Sam laughed, but her words were hopeful, not mocking. Lara gave her a soft smile and climbed in, nearest the wall. Sam pressed up against her side as she pulled the sheets over them. It was cramped and far too warm. But Lara liked Sam pressing against her side, one breast against her chest, an arm slung over her waist. Lara pressed her face against Sam’s head and inhaled deeply. The shampoo they’d been given was generic, but still made her smell a lot better than a few days of feudal roughing.  
“I’ll be right here, Sam. If you wake….” Lara murmured. She heard a giggle as Sam rustled beside her.  
“I know that, silly. Good night.” 

As Lara stared into the dark room, gauging movement in the narrow hallway outside, she fought to relax her limbs. Her legs were tensed, ready to spring her out of the bed and into action. There were no Solarii here, were no oni. She had to relax. They were back with civilized people now. But Lara remembered how civilized people had fallen to cultish activity trapped on that island….

Lara concentrated on Sam’s hand on her side. She closed her eyes, dark overlapping darkness. 

• * * * * *

• 

Lara didn’t know when she’d fallen asleep, but she was falling. Her limbs felt weightless as she drifted through celestial backdrops, stars interwoven with streaking ends of lights that once were comets. It would have been beautiful if she wasn’t looking for Sam.  
Sam….Where was she? “SAM!” Lara’s voice echoed soundlessly around the endless space. Her back slammed into something solid and Lara was jolted at the thump her hard landing caused her heart. Her arms and legs flailed, then slammed down against the rock she’d fallen onto. What was this? A bit of land in the void? Where….

Something peeled out of the darkness around her and formed shape. The darker outlines of eyes blinked then peeled open, revealing a seething hatred. Lara shivered. She tried to back up on her prone position, but she couldn’t get enough traction. Mud squished beneath her fingertips as she tried to push backward. Why couldn’t she get going? She had to move, had to…..  
BAM! The lithe figure outlined in black crashed on top of her, and the hatred she seethed down at Lara pinned her in place. Primal terror clogged Lara’s throat and she choked to draw in a deep breath as one of the twisted hands pressed against her chest, between her breasts, holding her down. Her heart thudded harshly against the twisted branch-like fingers against her sternum. The figure was female, her dilated eyes made out. A ragged kimono flapped around her, the obi half untucked, the body beneath desiccated and corrupt. Dead! She was dead….. Of course, Himiko was dead, the body had been half reanimated when Lara had struck hard and true to free Sam from her touch….

The long black hair was falling out of a golden headdress, tangled about her shoulders. Her eyes….they were gone, must have rotted right out of her skull. Two hollow pits gaped down at Lara as the jaw worked loose, a faint screech erupting from the mummified corpse.  
“I killed you!” Lara remembered. Her heart struggled past a staccato rhythm to a more normal gait. But she was so afraid….  
Hideous laughter wafted down onto the prone girl. The corpse twisted above her legs heavy against her waist. Lara wanted to push her off, but she felt powerless, not one ounce of strength available to her desperately twisting fingers pushing against the mud.  
“Youuuuuu did not. I am still heeeere, within…..” And more hideous laughter erupted into the void around them. Lara shuddered. 

“No! Get out!” she screamed, pushing at the corpse’s shoulders. The body atop hers felt heavier and Lara was on her back again, shoulders pressing into the rock and mud. Help me, Dad, Mom, Roth, Jonah, anyone, I can’t fight her……  
“Lara!” Sam’s voice echoed through Himiko’s screeching laughter. And then the pressure on top of her shifted, to something warm and lithe and far more pleasant smelling.  
Lara’s eyes snapped open in the darkness and she caught the outline of a lithe girl on top of her, legs straddling her waist. She could barely register warmth, the scent of generic but clean soap, as blood pooled between her legs. As she recognized Sam, the blood surged, urging her to shift and Lara couldn’t help the erection that pressed up between Sam’s legs as she straddled her.

“Sam?!” she croaked and fell back, prone in shock. The dream, it had been a dream…it was so vivid and the flash of one soul to the very much alive girl atop her coursed shock through her limbs. The urgent shift that had stiffened between them gathered her to the now and Lara tried to press away from Sam, now embarrassed. She’d just been through hell, now was not the time to proposition her. Besides, Sam was her friend! She couldn’t…  
But why, Lara reflected suddenly, was Sam on top of her? “Sam, you gotta get off me….”  
Sam ground against her, in a misguided effort to move away. But she only pressed them closer. Lara hissed a groan despite herself. “Sam, get OFF….”

“No! No, Lara, I dreamed… I had a dream…. That stupid Whitman, he got you killed! You were dead and I couldn’t do anything…” Sam pressed on top of her, half laying on her chest. A sob ripped through her shoulders and Lara sighed, biting her lip against the lust urging her on. She ran a hand down Sam’s back, stopping at the small of her back, rubbing.  
“Sam….it’s okay…. I’m here. I’m still here. And I have my gun here, don’t worry….” It was true. Lara had pushed that hastily modified pistol under her pillow before climbing in the bunk. But weaponry was far from her mind as Sam shifted on her, jarring her aching shaft through the fabric of their shorts. She knew Sam had to feel it and blushed hotly in the darkness. “Uh… I didn’t mean…”

But Sam didn’t move away. She clung to Lara, burying her face into her shoulder. “I know you’re so noble, Lara, but sweetie, I know you care about me. In your own way. Please….” Her fingers were between their bellies, tugging at the waistband of Lara’s shorts. Lara’s skin burned as her fingertips grazed the flesh of her belly.  
“You don’t need this right now,” Lara groaned. “You’ve been through an ordeal. We all have….”  
Sam shifted on top of her, flinging her own t-shirt off. It landed on the floor somewhere. Lara reached up, hoping to grasp her thin shoulders and push her gently off. “If you push me away right now, I don’t know what I’ll do….Lara… please, sweetie. I need…. I need….”  
And suddenly, Lara’s heart jumped as logic struggled to make sense of her friend’s words. Her friend was terrified, even though they’d been rescued. She loved her; she’d made no attempt to cover that up. And when Lara was terrified that she’d be too late to rescue her from Mathias, she knew she’d be decimated by Sam’s loss. But Sam was here, alive and warm on top of her. She needed a connection to survive this terrible night, she needed a reminder that she was alive, and things were going to be okay.

Lara’s shaft throbbed eagerly between her legs as Lara breathed deeply beneath Sam who was trying to press kisses across her collar bone, struggling to reach under her shorts. Lara caught the wrist of her hand and before Sam could protest, leaned up to kiss her. The girl on her lap melted against her and Lara deepened the kiss, cupping the back of her head with one hand. Her other hand eased Sam’s from her waistband, but Sam was too caught up in the kiss to notice. Lara’s other hand eased down her back, cupping the small of her back and pressing the thin girl down against her as her hips rolled upward. Sam moaned a sigh into her mouth and Lara drank it in gently. Their kiss deepened and Lara’s heart thudded hard against her breasts. She felt like she was losing control, but maybe tonight…. That was okay.

“Please,” Sam whispered against her lips. Lara kissed her again and directed her mouth along the line of Sam’s throat to her shoulder and down to her breast. Sam’s fingers twisted through her hair as she latched onto her nipple, biting gently.  
“I didn’t want….to push you….” Lara was saying against her and Sam understood. They’d become fast friends through university, but Lara didn’t want to assert her alpha status over her and proposition her.  
“Right now…it’s okay….” Sam gasped. She was urged onto her back by strong arms and spread her legs eagerly for the alpha undressing them both. And Lara was between her thighs, leaning down to kiss her as she pushed inside. Sam was too wet, too open. She took Lara’s shaft in one long push. She’d needed this, after the stress of the island, the adrenaline bursts, the terror, the panic she’d never see Lara again…. Lara was on top of her, pushing inside, murmuring gently beside her jaw as she scattered kisses along her throat.

Sam felt the surging strength in Lara’s back, as her muscles rippled through her long thrusts. She was holding a lot of herself back, for her sake. Sam’s heart melted. She clutched the lithe girl on top of her, widening her thigh against her hip. “Go on, I can take it….” She whispered against Lara’s ear. The girl shuddered on top of her, shaft throbbing inside her.  
“I don’t think I can,” she admitted with a lop-sided grin and Sam’s heart twanged. She loved Lara, there was no getting around that. Even if Lara was just being kind and indulging her wants after a life-shattering ordeal, she wanted her.  
Lara’s thrusts were coming harder and faster and Sam clutched her back, urging her on. She moved beneath her, a long moan erupting from her throat before Lara silenced her with a kiss. But the harsh pants that Lara hissed beside her lips when they parted told her Lara wanted it too.

Afterwards, Sam held Lara in her arms, feeling calm for the first time in days. And she knew Lara felt it too, for her eyes were closing. Sam wanted to laugh. “Move, you’re heavy,” she complained lightly. Lara gave a laugh and pulled out, a tide of wetness coming out with her shaft. Sam felt a brief stab of panic at that. They hadn’t thought about a condom. Oh well, she was sure this ship had kajihana somewhere on board. 

A curious stab of longing hurt Sam’s heart. She moved to press her face against Lara’s breast when she moved onto her back. Lara’s arm was strong around her back, fingers stroking the knobs of her spine. “Was that…was….” Sam murmured, forgetting how to form a sentence.  
Lara quieted beside her, then rolled to her side toward her. “We needed that,” she admitted. “You’ll be safe with me, Sam.”

Sam happily cuddled up to her and though far more relaxed, troubles still kept Lara from falling directly asleep. Would Sam come home to Croft Manor with her, and would she even let her go on her next expedition? For Lara’s mind was besieged by her father’s notes and recordings. She could go to his clues pinpointed in Syria. If Himiko’s soul could stay, anchored by her corpse, then the Divine Source could be real, could be something more….  
The Solarii and Mathias had touched something far more than the world itself and something supernatural in Himiko’s ritual of transference. Hidden on Yamatai, she had waited, and Mathias had brushed against something far darker than the material world.

The immortal soul was real. Lara had seen it, screaming through a desiccated corpse dressed in regal bearing. It was real, and her dad had been searching for it. Troubling memories of being sent to a caretaker in London when she was small, right after Mother had died, came upon Lara. Her father had had workers and builders all over Croft Manor in the harrowing weeks after her mom had died, and he’d been unreachable, inconsolable. She’d been sent away, and weeks later, had come home to a more calm and taciturn Lord Croft.

There was a new standard carved into the wall of the manor’s entryway, but aside from that new discovery, things were back to normal. Lara was troubled, listening to Sam’s light breathing as she fell asleep, content and satiated.  
Dad had been looking for the Divine Source. Before those fast clipped weeks of her youth. He had kept on researching it after as well. Why? 

Himiko had been real. Sam’s joking stories of her lineage to the powerful Japanese queen had been rooted in some reality. Lara shivered and clutched the naked girl close. Himiko couldn’t have her.

 * * * *

“Miss Croft!” The aged man in a black suit waved at the gates of the manor. Lara found a smile reaching her lips. Sam was beside her, both dressed well from newly purchased outfits from a high-end London store. They looked good, if Lara thought so herself. She took Sam’s hand and Sam squeezed her fingers.  
“Should have known Winston would be here,” Sam teased. Lara gave her a soft smile, then ran out of the car and into the old beta’s waiting arms. This was familiar, her old butler waiting for her returns from boarding school, on visits from university, and now, his wrinkled face was a healthy respite from the horrors of Yamatai.

“Winston….. come on, you didn’t have to wait for us,” Lara urged. She took the old man’s arm and Sam latched onto his other side. The butler laughed, guiding the two girls into the front door of Croft Manor.  
“It’s more to ask your forgiveness, Miss Croft. The builders are doing their best, but well, the place is still rather a mess,” he winced. There were scattered leaves all over the marble foyer and Lara sighed. The tree had been removed from the upper window of the walkways above and the glass was replaced. But no one had bothered to do a thorough clean or sweep the floor at least.  
“It’s alright,” Lara assured him, even as she went over a mental checklist as they moved through the entryway inside. “We have a lot to do. A lot to…”

“I understand, Miss Croft,” Winston said, and his eyes were very sympathetic. “I never thought anyone could best that old hunter Roth. Him and your dad. But I’ll have Chef prepare for the funeral, and you’ll need to…..”  
“A lot to do,” Sam said lightly, taking her arm and walking her away. Lara went with her. “And Jonah and Reyes will come back.”  
“At least for this,” Lara muttered. She hadn’t had time to ask Jonah about possibly coming with her to Syria, but Reyes had had a far more smart refusal when she’d asked on the rescue ship.

“The next time I go anywhere with you, will be in hell. Sorry, Lara.” Reyes had been short, but her answer wasn’t to be unexpected. She’d lost a lot on this trip. Lara didn’t blame her.  
“I’ll have tea sent up, Miss Croft. You two relax,” Winston called after them. Lara sighed as their shoes crunched on leaves going up the staircase.  
“I wonder what my room looks like,” she teased her friend. Sam held onto her arm, putting her head on her shoulder.

“It’ll be fine. We need to be alone anyway,” she gave her a teasing look and Lara’s heart thumped. She was going to have to tell her she was leaving. Should she offer a place for Sam to come? Would she want to? Sam’s parents were worried sick about her and she hadn’t even seen them yet. There was so much to discuss.

Lara sighed as they entered her old bedroom.

End for now

**Author's Note:**

> End notes: May be a one off, may not. Set after “Tomb Raider 2013” before “Rise of the Tomb Raider” starts up. Like it, leave a review, tomb raiders.
> 
> Pen 1/1/2021


End file.
